The Things You Can't Cure
by Conflicted and Restricted
Summary: After a battle ends in disaster, Starscream makes things worse by attempting to 'fix' the Combaticons. Megatron, meanwhile, is wondering how to turn this to his own advantage.
1. Chapter 1, Rendered Mute

The Things You Can't Cure

* * *

><p>Starscream surveyed the battlefield from the air, making light passes over the Autobot infantry. Ignoring most of the fight, he swung left to get a better look at his Combaticons.<p>

To say Starscream cared for the Combaticons was laughable; he had ambition only for himself. But his possessiveness of them was readily apparent. The rest of the Decepticons figured the Combaticons were just another attempt at besting Megatron in a 'My lunatics are better than your Stunticon lunatics' kind of way. They weren't all that wrong, either.

Starscream did another pass, and hardly acknowledged an Autobot's shout of challenge or his pathetic lasers that missed by a good ten feet. His entire concentration was on _his_ Combaticons. At the moment, they were following Megatron's orders to guard the emerald quarry. Though only the humans thought they were emeralds, in reality they had struck a vein of highly concentrated green Energon.

Under normal circumstances, this would have been an easy task for the Combaticons. But in the three weeks since a certain incident, their team had seemed to fragment.

Swindle was skittish from the initial beating he had received, and the few after that. Brawl, the one who already had anger management issues, hadn't changed much. But Blast off, while never the most sociable, could only get colder if he froze into a block of solid ice. Even Onslaught's tactics seemed off, as though he were distracted.

Vortex, on first glance, seemed perfectly normal. Starscream knew differently. According to Skywarp, Swindle had taken to refueling at night in an attempt to avoid his team, at which point Vortex took to stalking him through the dark hallways. Starscream never heard what Vortex did if or when he caught Swindle, but had heard rumors of the 'Copter throwing knives and whispering threats.

At the moment, the Combaticons were proving their worthlessness at the task at hand. Onslaught had made a rudimentary error, leaving their flank weak, and after the Autobots took out Swindle, completely exposed.

Starscream, under orders by Megatron not to shoot, opened fire at the Autobots. The Autobots were unable to dodge his shots. If they moved now and Starscream got a shot into the Energon, the whole quarry would be a complete loss.

The battle ended when Megatron finally realized the Autobots had won and took one well aimed blast at the green Energon. The resulting explosion put Wheeljack to shame.

* * *

><p>Megatron surveyed his troops. No one had escaped the battle without damage, himself included. He had been uninjured up till he fired the last shot, when Prime tackled him. Prime managed to twist his arm until the gears split, but not in time to save the quarry.<p>

The explosion had dealt damage to both sides, with more Autobots down than Decepticons, and with heavier damage sustained to the Decepticons, who were almost at ground zero.

Megatron would not have fired the shot however, if they had been any Decepticons other than the Combaticons. It was one of the reasons he had stationed them there in the first place. And though he hoped not, he knew Starscream would eventually come to the conclusion.

Which, now that he thought about it, was taking the seeker longer than he anticipated.

"Soundwave!"

"Yes, lord Megatron?"

Soundwave, who's battle damage consisted mainly of cosmetic scrapes and char marks, stepped up beside him.

"Where's Starscream?"

"Location: field. Activity: locating missing Combaticons."

Megatron eye's narrowed.

"Which one's are missing?"

"Missing: Onslaught, Swindle."

Megatron smirked. The two he hated most? Splendid.

"Soundwave, what are the chances of recovery?"

"Estimate: low."

"Good."

* * *

><p>The quarry was unrecognizable; the carefully constructed shafts and tunnels had been blown to pieces. Onslaught, Starscream thought, would not be moving for a while. He was pinned under several metal support beams and stone boulders, half inside a major tunnel.<p>

Starscream was a highly qualified medic, although that didn't mean a thing to most Decepticons, as they'd rather chew their own leg off than let _Starscream _fix them. Right now, Onslaught didn't have a choice in the matter. He was unconscious and the Constructicons were miles away.

Setting down his tools, Starscream carefully tried to remove the steel support beam on top of Onslaught. Shifting it free, he was only mindful of the large chunks of rock, unable to stop the shower of smaller stones that did superficial damage to Onslaughts paintjob.

That done, he took hold of Onslaught shoulders and pulled him free of the tunnel to examine his condition. The damage wasn't as bad as he had initially thought: some twisted gears, a few gashes that missed the Energon lines, and an array of laser wounds that would heal up on their own. If Onslaught hadn't been knocked out, he probably would have made it back with the rest of his team.

Starscream opened a compartment in his arm and pulled out a syringe and a vial. Said vial contained a substance used to rouse unconscious mechs. Measuring carefully, Starscream injected the fluid into Onslaughts main Energon cord.

A few minutes passed before Onslaughts yellow visor started to flicker.

"… What…?

"Onslaught." Starscream smirked down at him. "So nice of you to wake up."

"Starscream." He responded, less than amused.

The Combaticon tried to rise to his feet, but Starscream glared at him and stomped down on one of his hands. Onslaught seethed. The move hadn't hurt, but the jab at his pride did.

"Tell me Onslaught. What _happened_ today?" His voice was low and angry.

Onslaught didn't entirely know what the Seeker meant. He had a vague idea, but knowing Starscream, he was angry about something Onslaught had no control over or anything to do with. The best tactic, he thought, was to say nothing and wait for the windbag to explain everything, like he inevitably would.

"I'll _tell_ you what happened."

Onslaught racked his CPU for a way to get out of this. He was injured and the last thing he wanted to do was listen to the seeker rant. Granted, even if he wasn't injured, it would still be the last thing he'd want to do.

"You're strategy today, if you can call it that, was utterly pathetic. You made such simple and rudimentary errors, that a drone could have done better! A drone would certainly have done better to hold a team together!"

Now Onslaught knew how it felt when Starscream mocked Megatron's plans. Except that Onslaught didn't have the option of decking the Seeker. Megatron was lucky in that respect.

"Starscr-"

"Shut up!" The seeker glared down at him. "I was in the middle of telling you everything you're doing _wrong._"

Onslaught thought he couldn't get angrier, but he was proven wrong. Unable to lash out at the seeker right now, he bottled the emotions away, to wait for the day he had the seeker at his mercy.

"Onslaught, I'll give you one chance to fix your team-"

"What happens if I don't?"

The seeker looked down at him with a vicious smile.

"I'll have you all reprogrammed. Perhaps even fix some of those… Personality quirks while I'm at it."

Onslaught felt his Energon run cold.

"Now, return the HQ. Brawl, Blast off and Vortex are already there." The Seeker said, stepping off of Onslaught's hand. "But I have to go find Swindle."

Onslaught shut his mouth before he told the seeker not to bother, that he'd prefer the drone he'd mentioned earlier to the backstabbing jeep.

"Yes sir."

* * *

><p>Apparently, after he had been injured, Swindle had taken refuge inside the mine. Traveling not down the main tunnels, but the smaller side tunnels where none of the larger mechs could reach.<p>

Starscream was at a loss on how to reach him. His wings made passage almost impossible anywhere in the mine, not to mention his claustrophobia was starting to get to him.

Starscream angrily punch a stone wall. It was apparent he needed Soundwave and his Cassetticon hoard to reach him. Getting Soundwave to do you a favor was unadvisable in all circumstances. The mech would always ask you to do something worth far more than the task you asked of him, because he always knew he had you in a bind. The benefits of being a telepath.

* * *

><p>"Three months?" The seeker shrieked over the com. line.<p>

Soundwave had known he was going to shout, without even using his telepathic abilities. The deal wasn't unreasonable, however. Starscream was, for three months, not to try and kill Megatron. It wasn't like it was a difficult task to manage. Though maybe for Starscream, it was.

"Swindle's hardly worth that!"

"Requesting: answer."

"You can't-, you've got-, you-, you-!" the other end of the line was what would best be described as Starscream throwing a tantrum. "_Fine, _Soundwave. I… _Agree _to your terms."

* * *

><p>Onslaught made it back to HQ just in time to see Soundwave leave. Onslaught didn't even offer a greeting to the tape player as he passed, he just made a beeline for his room and his team.<p>

"Onslaught!" Brawl called, upon seeing his leader. The other two Combaticons turned to look at him.

"Ya look like slag." Vortex commented.

Onslaught, not in the mood for words, just looked at him. He'd already called ahead and told them his conversation with Starscream. Now there wasn't much to say.

"So…' Brawl started, not taking the hint. "What do we do?"

"Rest. Work something out." Vortex answered. "Kill Swindle and hide his body somewhere in Utah."

Onslaught looked at Vortex.

"Oh, I know!" Vortex brightened. "Let's swap Swindle for a Minibot. C'mon, we'll paint him up to look just like Swin and Starscream would be none the wiser!"

At this point, Blast off would normally have chimed in with a witty retort about Vortex's plan being insane, but he remained motionless and quiet. Just as he had been since the incident.

Onslaught, for once, was at a loss. How was he supposed to fix this when he wanted nothing more than tear out Swindle's fuel pump and beat him to death? Swindle had already said 'Sorry' in more ways than he could count, at least in the beginning.

For the last few weeks, Swindle had not said a single word to the rest of the team and started refueling at night. And Onslaught only knew that because he had Vortex tail him a few of those nights. Not that Vortex tailed him _only_ for a few nights; the copter had a thing for freaking people out in dark hallways.

"Are there any ideas," Onslaught began. "That don't involve Swindle's painful demise?"

The quietness was telling.

* * *

><p>An hour later, Starscream arrived back at HQ with Swindle in his arms and Soundwave behind him. The Cassetticons followed after, looking ill.<p>

"What's with you?" Asked Thundercracker as the twins passed.

"Ugh." Rumble slumped. "We found Swindle, but he was too damaged to move and _Starscream_ had to walk us through the repairs."

Frenzy looked ready to puke. The black and red Cassetticon had done base maintenance often, but it was entirely different to do the same maintenance and have your hands in someone else's Energon at the same time. One of the reasons an engineer and medic were considered two different classes, despite their fields having so much in common.

"And I don't know what's worse: Swindle's Energon on my hands, Starscream voice, or having to take orders from _Starscream _for half an hour!"

Thundercracker knew what they meant. He'd trained with Starscream as his air commander, and by the end of each session, he wanted to throttle him.

* * *

><p>Hook would also have liked to throttle him. Hours after everyone else had received repairs and got the pit out of his workshop, Starscream enters and demands he fix another one.<p>

The Constructicon was not amused.

"How long until he's operational?" Asked Starscream, impatiently.

Hook frowned as he completed his first scan. Swindle was so slagged, the Constructicon wondered how he was even alive _now_. His Energon cables had all been fused together, probably from the heat of the blast, and his paint job was almost none existent, a few chips of yellow and purple were all that remained. But most worryingly, the side of his spark chamber had been pierced by something., which had been hastily patched along with the Energon leaks. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Hook looked up at Starscream.

"How long until he's _operational_?" Hook repeated.

"Yes, _Hook_. What, are you're audio receptors malfunctioning?"

"You're lucky if he lasts few _hours_, Starscream." Despite this, he started to work on the spark chamber patch. "Even if his spark doesn't go out while I repair him, the effects of spark damage-"

"Yes, yes, Hook_. I _actually took training as a medic, I probably know more than _you _do." Starscream said, with a hand wave. "Anyway, I have more important things to do. I'll comeback later."

The other Constructicons wondered at the pure seething hatred seeping through the bond, and thought twice about giving Hook a call. Turns out, they didn't need to: Hook called them.

"Scrapper, I need you in my workshop."

"What for, Hook?" Scrapper asked, already stepping out the door.

"Surgery."

That had their team leader stopping short.

"I thought-"

"_Starscream_," The name was said with such poison, Scrapper no longer wondered what the earlier hatred was about. "brought in Swindle, and he's slagged five ways to Sunday."

'On my way, Hook."

* * *

><p>"Soundwave." Megatron greeted. "Have you found out why, yet?"<p>

"Affirmative. Starscream: Never worked out the set-up. Reason: Thinks failure was due to the Combaticons."

"Really?" Megatron said in surprise.

"Correct. Starscream blames team fallout for loss."

Megatron was stunned into silence. The Seeker had spent years accusing him of setting him up, but the one time Megatron truly did, the Seeker couldn't work it out. By Primus, Starscream really was an idiot.

"Well." Megatron said, not really knowing what to say. "That changes things."

"Additional information."

Megatron motioned for him to continue.

"Deal made with Starscream. You're safety assured for three months."

"Excellent!" Megatron said, before frowning. "But what did _he_ get? My safety for any length of time is useless if he gets a super weapon out of the deal."

"Starscream: No super weapon acquired. Deal: Assistance was traded."

"Assistance…?"

* * *

><p>Night had long since fallen and morning had come, but the Combaticons were no closer to solution then they were after the battle. Brawl's ideas all centered around knocking Swindle into stasis and keeping him there. Vortex had run through the lists of mechs they could possibly swap Swindle for, as though the Autobots wouldn't suddenly notice one of their Minibots was now a <em>jeep. <em>Blast off hadn't said a word.

Onslaught suppressed his sigh.

"All right. Why don't we take a refueling break? We'll meet back here in a few hours."

"Yeah!" Brawl exclaimed. "I'm hungry!"

Vortex and Brawl went out the door almost faster than Onslaught gave the order to go.

Onslaught waited a couple of minutes, before turning to look at Blast off. The shuttle was sitting in the far corner of the room, staring at him.

"Blast off."

Although Onslaught could count the number of words Blast off had said recently on one hand, he was hoping the shuttle would break his silence on this matter.

* * *

><p>The Constructicons didn't know how, but they managed to stabilize Swindle, <em>and<em> fix most of the major damage. The minor repairs could be carried out by the jeep's own systems, and his paint job wasn't a life or death matter. The only thing they couldn't fix was his right optic, which had a spiderweb crack at the side; they'd have to wait for a trip to Cybertron, as optic glass was highly specialized and they didn't have any spares for Swindles rare optic type.

"Were done." Scrapper stated, stepping back from the surgery table.

"I need some Energon…" Hook said, wiping his hands. "Starscream interrupted before I could refuel."

"Oh! I'll get it!" exclaimed Scavenger, who had been in the back watching them work.

The two mechs watched the younger speed through the door, wondering just when he had come in.

"Maybe some recharge wouldn't be too bad either…" Hook said.

* * *

><p>Swindle's optics brightened as he onlined. First thing he noticed was half his vision had lines running through it, although he had long gotten used to waking up after battles like that. Doing his best to ignore the soreness he tried sitting up. After a wave of vertigo, he managed. Now he had good look of the bland workshop and Scrapper filling out a report. Thrilling.<p>

Swindle started to ask when he could leave, but stopped when no sound came forth.

'_They must not have fixed my vocals yet, the fraggers.' _Swindle thought. '_It wasn't even funny the first time they did that.'_

Not knowing what else to do, he checked the repairs they actually got done. First thing he noticed was his paintjob, or lack of it.

'_Slag, I'm going to need an entire repaint_.'

"Swindle."

He jumped at the sound, not having expected Scrapper to address him. After a few moments, he noticed the Constructicon looking at him, as if waiting for an answer. Swindle shrugged in the best way he could communicate "What?" without a vocalizer.

Scrapper gave him an odd look before continuing.

"Some soreness is to be expected, but if you feel any sharp pain, be sure to tell me immediately."

'_How?_'

"And Scavenger will be back soon with some paint. Do you need us to paint you?"

Swindle nodded. Scrapper cocked his head to the side.

"Why aren't you talking?"

'_Like you don't know._' Swindle glared at him. _'And you're only supposed to put on the innocent act when other people are around, ya know.'_

Scrapper set down the report he had been holding and picked up a hand scanner. He walked over to the berth and tipped Swindle's head up.

"Swindle, count to three."

Swindle glowered at him. Unable to say anything, he held up his hand and raised one figure, then two, then three.

"I meant count to three _vocally_."

After a few moments of silence, Scrapper stepped back.

"Swindle, you can't talk, can you?"

Swindle nodded 'yes' before giving the Constructicon a very negative hand gesture.


	2. Chapter 2, Turmoil

Chapter 2,

The lounge room of the Decepticon base was located down a long hallway at the center core. The Constructicon had specifically designed it to be as far away from the prison cells and command center as possible, to deter any Autobots that broke in from ransacking the place. The main reason being a huge glass window they had replaced an entire wall for. Said window allowed the off duty 'Cons a beautiful and relaxing view of the ocean, but provided a huge security risk and an easy way to flood their base. Several tables and been turned toward the window, both to look outside as they drank Energon and to provide a barrier for the inevitable fights that broke out.

Onslaught sat at one of the tables, drinking Energon and trying to clear his head. Blast off, as he'd figured, had been no help. Onlsaught hated being out of options. In all his years as a commander and tactician, he had _always _come up with a plan, even if a few of them didn't work.

But this wasn't the battlefield and the Combaticons weren't made up of just soldiers. Onslaught could deal with Brawl, Vortex, and Blast off. He could relate to them. They were soldiers, made of the same programming. Brawl had even come from the same production line and Vortex the same barrack.

Swindle was a different matter entirely. Not only was he a civilian, but a half-breed civilian who was born into an Autobot city and raised on the streets. In fact, Onslaught's only knowledge of the city Swindle came from was of destroying it during the war. Which, uncoincidently, was where he met Swindle. And Swindle had been gung ho to bomb the place. Had been the one, actually, to set off the first of the bombs. And quite a few after that, too.

Realization dawned on Onslaught and he had to refrain from slapping himself on the forehead. Instead he gently placed his head on the table and sighed.

'_How did I missed that?' _Onslaught wondered. _'The way he destroyed something that should have meant something to him without a fragging scrap of remorse? I handed him the bombs, for Primus sake!'_

Swindle's actions had always perplexed him, and he now realized why; he'd chalked up _all _of his actions to greed. Onslaught now understood that wasn't always the case. The incident was no longer an anomaly. The problem was, if greed wasn't the only motivating factor, what else was?

'_Maybe,' _Onslaught thought. _'If I can figure this out, I can put our team back together. I certainly don't have any other options.'_

Suddenly, his com. link pinged.

"Onslaught," He recognized Scrappers voice. "Meet me down in medbay."

The message was short and the Constructicon didn't wait for an answer. The line snapped shut without so much as a goodbye.

"With all their technical know-how, you'd think they'd be able to program themselves better manners." Onslaught said, finishing off his Energon and heading for the door.

* * *

><p>"Didn't I tell you to comm. Me?"<p>

Hook didn't bother looking up and as Starscream entered his workshop. He'd long since gotten used to the 'Squawking' of the air commander. That didn't mean he didn't want to tear out his own audio receptors when he heard him, though.

"Oh. I was just about to call you."

"…Right." Starscream narrowed his eye's at the Constructicon.

"Where's Swindle, I have to talk to him."

"That's gonna be difficult." Hook replied.

"What?" Starscream asked.

"I said 'That's gonna be difficult'. Would you like me to check your audio receptors?"

"Don't get smart with me, _Constructicon_." Starscream leaned over the desk, looking him in the visor. "I am your worst nightmare."

"I know, it's the one where Megatron makes you second in command. I still haven't woken up."

Before Starscream could launch himself over the desk to attack Hook, Onslaught interrupted.

"Scrapper called for me, where is he?" Onslaught asked, looking at

Hook.

"He's in the back with Swindle." Hook replied, not taking his eye's off the seeker. "Go on through."

"I was here first." Starscream said. "as such, _I_ shall go first to talk to Swindle."

"Good luck with that." Hook said, turning back to his data pad.

"Stay here, Onslaught." Starscream looked at the Combaticon. "_I'm_ going first."

With that, the Seeker headed into the back.

"Really," Hook muttered. "Could he get any more childish?"

"Do you want an answer, or was that rhetorical?" asked Onslaught.

* * *

><p>"Starscream." Scrapper said, surprised. "I was expecting Onslaught."<p>

Starscream didn't answer, his attention was drawn to Swindle, who was sitting in the corner of the room with his knees drawn up. He didn't react to the seekers entrance, and only glared at the wall silently.

"Swin-."

"Starscream." Scrapper interrupted. "He can't talk."

The seeker look at him for a moment before glaring. "Reactivate his vocalizer now. Even _Skywarp_ never plays the same prank _twice_."

"It's not a _prank_." Scrapped glared back. "His spark is damaged. The ability to control his vocalizer was cutoff. As far as we know, this is Permanent."

For once, Starscream was silent. But only for a second.

"Can a procedure be done to replace him in the gestalt?" asked Starscream.

* * *

><p>"How long are they going to take?" Onslaught asked Hook.<p>

"Slag if I know." The Constructicon shrugged. "But Starscream isn't going to be happy, that's for sure."

"What do you mean?"

Hook looked at him a moment.

"We weren't able to… fully fix Swindle."

Onslaught didn't know whether to be hopeful or alarmed.

"His spark was damaged either by Rumble's and Frenzy's awful patch job, or during the fight, and we don't have the medical training to do anything about it." Hook explained. "Personally, I blame Starscream. And you're teammate's been rendered mute, by the way."

"Mute?" Onslaught repeated, unbelieving.

Starscream chose that moment to enter the room with a rather irate Scrapper behind him.

"I cannot _believe_," The Seeker yelled. "that you don't have the ability to do that!"

"_You_, as you so put it, went to '_medical training far superior' _than ours'_!" _Scrapper responded. "You should know we can't do that!"

"Then I," Starscream said, rounding on the Constructicon. "Will have to find someone who _can_."

With that, the Seeker stomped out of the workshop, leaving Hook and Onslaught confused.

"What was that about?" Asked Hook, after Scrapper calmed down a little.

"He wasn't us to sever Swindle from his gestalt."

"What?"

Scrapper jumped in surprise; he hadn't seen the Combaticon standing there.

"Onslaught… You're… Here. Now."

"I've been here." He composed himself. "Since you called, actually."

"Did Hook tell you that-"

"Swindle's mute?"

Scrapper nodded, casting a glance to the backroom door.

"We can't fix him." Scrapper said, glaring at the door Starscream exited through. "Even if we were fully qualified in Spark care, the surgery would probably kill him, and that would probably take the rest of you with him."

Scrapper turned to look at the Combaticon. Onslaught was quiet, his head down and contemplating.

"What Starscream said," Onslaught began. "Are you going to separate us?"

"No." Scrapper answered. "We're engineers, not medics. Separating him from your gestalt is also well beyond our skills."

Onslaught nodded and muttered: "Today has not been a good day…"

"Well, it could have been worse." Hook said, returning to his data pad. "He could of ended up talking like Shrapnel."

Scrapper winced. Everyone knew most of the defects in the Decepticon ranks could be chalked up to poor medical care. Shrapnel's speech problem was just one of their most obvious mistakes, and the main reason they were antsy to treat spark wounds. The other reasons were dead.

"Where is he?" Asked Onslaught.

"Backroom." Scrapper responded. "Probably still in the corner. He hasn't moved much since he woke up."

* * *

><p>Onslaught entered and instantly spotted Swindle.<p>

"Swindle." He said, causing the smaller Combaticon to flinch. "Get up and follow me back to my quarters."

Swindle glared, but did as he ordered. He didn't have any alternatives. Even hiding out in the Stunticons room like he normally did wasn't an option; The only reason Motormaster hadn't beat him into scrap metal was because he kept Drag strip and Wildrider busy. He just wasn't as much of a distraction mute.

The trip to Onslaught room was, unsurprisingly, quiet. Few mechs offered either one a greeting. The Combaticon's connection with Starscream had put a damper on relations within the Decepticon hierarchy, making things like comradary impossible.

They stopped at a generic looking door, and Onslaught keyed in his passcode. Swindle tentatively followed his leader inside and waited for his orders.

"Swindle." Onslaught said, handing him an empty data pad. "Here. Anything you need to say, use this to write it down. Now, stay here."

Swindle took the pad while avoiding Onslaughts gaze. He watched his leader leave, before turning to the pad. It was standard issue, the kind Soundwave had everyone write reports on.

'_What am I supposed to write?' _Swindle wondered._ 'No one listened to me when I could talk. How the slag am I going to get them to read a fraggin' data pad?'_

Swindle wished, and not for the first time, that Cybertron had never fallen into war. Prior to the Decepticon uprising, Transformers had used a method similar to texting to communicate. The method had died out almost immediately when the war started. Unlike comm. Links, texting allowed for viruses to be transmitted, creating the closest thing to biological warfare robots could have.

He sighed and looked around the sparse room. All there was were two chairs, a lamp, a desk, and a door leading to what Swindle assumed was Onslaught's berth.

'_Onslaught… is so boring.'_

Swindle tossed his data pad onto one chair and sat in the other. He sighed again and wondered where Onslaught had gone. His leaders room was the last place he wanted to be, but he didn't want to think of the consequences of Onslaught coming back to him not being there. He couldn't talk his way out of trouble. And he was darned sure he couldn't get Onslaught to read the slagging data pad.

* * *

><p>"Soundwave." Starscream entered the command center.<p>

"Starscream." Soundwave responded.

"What are the Autobot Ratchet's credentials in the field of gestalts?"

"Credentials: Unknown." Soundwave answered, miffed at being asked such a dumb question. "Ratchet: has yet to send in résumé."

Soundwave turned back to the console, intent to ignore the seeker. Starscream, angered at the comment, didn't back down.

"Surely you have _some _knowledge of the Autobot medic. Or are your infiltration skills just that lacking…?" The seeker goaded.

"Starscream: Conclusion: Incorrect." Soundwave answered.

Before Starscream could reply, Megatron walked into the command center.

"Ah, Starscream." Megatron smiled. "You're just in time to hear my new plan."

Starscream grimaced. A new plan normally meant a new way to usurp Megatron. Unfortunately for the seeker, the deal he made with Soundwave was still in effect. For once, he had to take orders without a coinciding plan to kill Megatron.

"Let's… Hear your plan, mighty Megatron." Starscream responded, sending a cross glance at Soundwave.

Three months. _Just_ three months.

* * *

><p>"This is just too predictable." Cliffjumper muttered, looking at the new nuclear energy plant the humans had constructed.<p>

"Yeah. That's probably why they stationed us here." Bluestreak said. "The Decepticons are just going to be all over this. You'd think after all this time, the humans would learn to stop building things like this, as they always attract the Decepticons. On the other hand, the human population boom has made it impossible for them not to. The rising demand of energy needed for the humans has increased exponentially over the time we've been here. Then you have the third world countries that are starting to-"

"Oh, Primus, just shut up already!"

* * *

><p>Starscream, followed by Skywarp and Thundercracker, lead the utterly predictable charge in the raid of the nuclear energy plant. The three of them knew, of course, that this wasn't the real raid. Megatron had decided to use their own predictability against the Autobots. While Starscream and his trine attacked the focus of the Autobots attention, the Stunticons would raid a lesser power plant, miles away. Megatron figured that a smaller target without Autobots attacking would provide more Energon than a large target the Autobots had practically made a fort of.<p>

Starscream calculated that the Energon would probably be equal and had a hunch that Megatron just wanted to see him get shot at. Either way, Starscream decided to use the raid to his own advantage. Not to kill Megatron this time, but to fix his gestalt and get rid of a few… broken parts.

* * *

><p>"Where's Megatron?" Optimus asked, ducking behind a wall.<p>

"Don't see 'im!" Ironhide answered, returning fire. "In fact… All I see are those three seekers."

"Hmm." Optimus checked his gun. "Something isn't right, where are the rest of the Decepticons?"

As if on cue, his comm. Link activated.

"Optimus!" Red alert shouted. "The Decepticons are attacking a power plant in California!"

"A trick." Optimus concluded.

"Slagging 'Cons!" Ironhide shouted over the sound of the lasers.

* * *

><p>Starscream saw something he'd never thought he'd see: Megatron's plan working. As he watched the Autobots break up their defenses to pursue the Decepticons in California, he decided now was the time to act.<p>

Ratchet, during the confusion of the Autobot forces, had been separated from the larger groups. Breaking formation, Starscream barreled toward the Autobot medic. Before Ratchet could react, Starscream had already knocked him out with a null ray.

Starscream knew he had to act fast, before the other Autobot's noticed their downed medic. He commed Skywarp and instructed him to teleport their 'prisoner' away. Seconds after the purple seeker had disappeared, the 'Lamborghini twins of terror' as Skywarp called them, attacked. Starscream had taken to the air just in time to avoid Sunstreaker, and called Thundercracker with orders to retreat.

Starscream could hear the Lamborghini's shouting insults as he sped away. Something about 'their medic' and turning seekers into waffle irons.

* * *

><p>"So ya can't talk, huh?" Votex said, leaning down with his hands on his knee's to look into Swindle's optics. "Torture isn't as much fun if ya can't scream."<p>

Swindle grimaced and leaned away from him, but Vortex reached out and tipped his data pad forward.

"Ya don't seem to be writing much."

Swindle wasn't sure what he's been expecting. Most of the Scam's he knew couldn't be replicated in writing, and swindling was completely out of the question. In fact, Swindle now realized his name was obsolete. Not that he'd tell his team that, he dreaded to think of what names they'd give him as a replacement.

"At least now we know Swindle can't sell us for scrap metal again." Vortex said, causing Swindle to flinch. "Although, he is almost entirely useless now."

"What does mute mean?" Asked Brawl.

Vortex sent an unamused look his way.

"'Mute' means our little _pal _here can no longer talk."

"Can he scream though?" Asked Brawl.

"Nope."

"Where's the fun in that?" The tank complained.

Swindle felt like chucking his data pad at his head, but refrained. They'd probably take away his data pad if he started using it as a weapon. Then he would be entirely out of options for communication.

"He can still comm. us right?" Brawl asked.

"No." Vortex answered.

"Why not?"

"He's _mute_, Brawl. He can't talk. What would he say over the comm. line?"

"Ummm…"

'_Slag Onslaught!' _Swindle thought. '_If he wanted me stay in his room, he wouldn't have sent crazy and dumber-than-dumb in here to watch me.'_

While Vortex attempted to explain things to Brawl, Swindle set his data pad down on the chair. On the pad he had written: 'Gone back to my room, Vortex and Brawl have things covered here.'

Swindle figured Onlsaught either wouldn't care, or he'd throw him in the brig again. Either way, he didn't have to listen Vortex and Brawl squabble.

Swindle quietly keyed the door open, and turned back to see if Vortex's attention was entirely on Brawl. It was. A split second later, the smallest Combaticon ditched his teammates and enter the hall, leaving Vortex bickering with Brawl.

* * *

><p>The Stunticons had gained, as Starscream predicted, just the same amount of Energon than if they had attacked the larger target. Starscream deduced that he had been, as he expected, part of a plan to get rid of him.<p>

"Someday, Megatron." Starscream said to himself. "In about three months. _I_ will be ruler of the Decepticons."

Behind him, Skywarp and Thundercracker rolled their eyes. Between them, they were carrying Ratchet. They didn't know why and Starscream didn't tell them. However, capturing Ratchet/First aid/Perceptor was a common enough occurrence to not warrant any suspicion; that said quite a few things about how the Decepticons functioned.

"Where are we-" Skywarp began, only to be cut off by Starscream.

"To my _lab!"_ Starscream said. "The usual procedure."

"It's kinda sad," Thundercracker said, watching Starscream stomp off ahead of them. "That we even have a 'usual procedure'."

"Yeah." Skywarp said. "Kidnapping Autobots's was much more fun at the beginning of the war. Back then, we just had to wing it."

* * *

><p>Swindle had almost made it back to his own room. Almost. Instead, his path coincided with the return of the Stunticons, who were in an unusually good mood. And that's when Wildrider decided now was the best time to play 'Tackle the Combaticon'.<p>

"Oooohhh! You should have been there Swin!" The Stunticon said. "Took every drop of Energon, broke everything the fun way, then… Dun dun duuuuunnnn! The place exploded. Without us in the middle. That was the best tactic thingy ever."

Swindle didn't bother trying to move the Stunticon off his chassis. He wasn't renowned for his strength, and Wildrider clearly didn't understand personal space. Usually, the Combaticon would just ask him to move, which only had a fifty-fifty chance of working on any given day. That option was out.

"You're quiet." Wildrider said. "Stop that."

Swindle responded by pointing at his throat, in the vicinity of where he though his vocalizer was. Wildrider cocked his head to the side and looked down at Swindle.

"Stop that." Wildrider repeated.

Swindle wasn't sure how else to tell him he couldn't talk, but stopped pointing.

"No not that." Wildrider said, catching Swindle's hand. "The _other_ thing."

Swindle decided that it must be hell to play charades with Wildrider.

"What's going on here?"

Swindle look up and spotted Dead end just coming through the door.

"Swindle's playing a new game!" Wildrider announced.

Dead end looked down at the Combaticon. "No he's not."

"Yeah. He is." Wildrider said. "Right Swin? The game where I talk, then you don't. Now it's your turn to say something."

Wildrider looked down, expecting an answer. Swindle, in turn, was just confused. Wildrider was one of the few mech's he couldn't ever swindle, and it was because his logic was impossible to grasp a hold of.

"Swindle," Dead end translated Wild riders 'crazy' as well as he translated Breakdown's dyslexia. "He thinks you're giving him the silent treatment. Just say something and he'll go away."

Swindle shook his head 'no' and pointed at his throat again.

"You did that already." Wildrider stated.

Dead end was silent for a moment. He pointed at his own throat then seemed to get the idea.

"You're inable to talk, am I right?" Dead end asked, and Swindle nodded.

"Huh?" Wildrider looked down at Swindle before getting off of him. "Slag. That gives you an unfair advantage! I demand a rematch!"

Dead end shook his head and sighed.

"In the end it doesn't matter anyway." He said. "You can't talk when your dead, afterall."

'_Leave it to you,'_ Swindle thought. '_To be all cheery.'_

* * *

><p>To be continued... please review.<p> 


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